Billionaire's Wife Sues City for 25 Grand

Del Mar City Council ordered T. Boone Pickens' wife to prune plants

By ERIC S. PAGE

Updated 4:15 PM PST, Thu, Sep 24, 2009

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T. Boone Pickens testifying on Capitol Hill while his wife, Madeleine, looks on.

The wife of a Texas oil tycoon is taking on the city of Del Mar.

In December, the City Council told T. Boone Pickens' wife, Madeleine, to prune plants at her $35 million Del Mar home. The order came after a neighbor complained that the plants blocked a view.

Pickens has sued, saying the order infringes on her property rights. She is seeking more than $25,000 in damages, arguing that no one disclosed the property had restrictions on the height of landscaping when she bought the home in 2007.

Del Mar enacted an ordinance in 2002 that allows residents to seek restoration of views dating back 10 years.

The Pickens split their time between San Diego and Texas.

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First Published: Sep 24, 2009 4:09 PM PST

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0 Comments

{"totSize":5,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_61283102","adminTags":null,"views":1639,"createdBy":10681086,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Billionaire's Wife Sues City for 25 Grand","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2210473,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"25 Sep 2009 00:15:41 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"fn_register_this","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"955083","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"new law please: millionaires that sue for monetary gain get fined $1- payable in cash, in person."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_61283102","adminTags":null,"views":1639,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Billionaire's Wife Sues City for 25 Grand","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2210473,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"25 Sep 2009 18:32:06 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"960239","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"GO BACK TO TEXAS. Y'all think you should be your own country anyway. Just because you are wealthy, doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. A city ordinance, no matter how lame, is a city ordinance. If you don't like it, don't own property there. IDIOTS!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_61283102","adminTags":null,"views":1639,"createdBy":12995414,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Billionaire's Wife Sues City for 25 Grand","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2210473,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"25 Sep 2009 21:40:33 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"0150mutt","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"961459","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Frivilous lawsuit anyone?"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_61283102","adminTags":null,"views":1639,"createdBy":13014489,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Billionaire's Wife Sues City for 25 Grand","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2210473,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"26 Sep 2009 16:29:48 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"hellocarlsbad","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"964262","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Most lawsuits are frivolous. She's not from Texas (her husband of 4 years is) but from Rancho Santa Fe. And perhaps, she's not all bad either: During the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, The Pickens donated $7 million dollars to the Red Cross to aid the people of the city of New Orleans. Besides, if everyone that lives in CA now returned to their home state/country then we wouldn't have such budgetary shortfalls, idiot!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"392724_61283102","adminTags":null,"views":1639,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Billionaire's Wife Sues City for 25 Grand","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2210473,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"28 Sep 2009 19:36:16 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"972318","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I thought everyone knew since early teens at least that the excuse "nobody told me" or "i didn't know" doesn't fly when having to do with law. I can see getting upset if it had to do with a cracked foundation or some such but not an ordinance passed by a community to protect the view. What happened to the average US citizen's ability to accept personal responsibility for self imposed ignorance."}],"error":"","totPages":1}